THE DEAD SOUTH RELEASE OURVINYL LIVE VERSION OF “BLACK LUNG.”

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SUGAR & JOY LANDS AT #7 ON BILLBOARD’S BLUEGRASS YEAR END CHART

“Ragged and righteous Canadian bluegrass.” – NPR Music

The Dead South share the first new live single from their Nashville’s OurVinyl TV session. “Black Lung,” a song from new album Sugar & Joy that puts grit and stomp on a story about workers exploitation – ostensibly about coal mining, but certainly more universally applicable – features multiple lead vocalists and a sinister, nowhere-to-run undercurrent. In OurVinyl’s treatment, the song is set in a rubbled corner of Nashville’s mostly flashy Germantown, with the focus solely on the performance. OurVinyl made their name with highly watchable live sessions that have included Tyler Childers, Billy Strings, St. Paul and The Broken Bones and more.

Sugar & Joy, The Dead South’s third album, was released in October and praised across the board as their most accomplished work yet. Produced by Jimmy Nutt, the album showcased their imaginative approach to progressive bluegrass. Sugar & Joy recently landed at #7 on Billboard’s Bluegrass Year End Chart (the only Canadian band in the mix), an admirable achievement for a band that has traveled a circuitous path from Regina, Saskatchewan, to Germany where they signed their first record deal, back to North America, where they now call Toronto indie label Six Shooter Records home.

Recently nominated for AmericanaUK’s International Artist of the Year, The Dead South have fully embraced their situation of being outsiders in the traditional folk world, where they hang their musical hats, and in their own country, where they don’t hang their hats that often, as they are constantly touring. As noted in a review of their pre-Thanksgiving show at LA’s Belasco Theatre, The Dead South’s approach is “carving out its own lane that lends new life to the genre precisely by remaining comfortably adjacent to it.”

The Dead South’s SERVED COLD TOUR, which will see sold out shows in more than 20 countries, picks up again in the USA in January. Mark The Dead South’s upcoming Paste Studio Live on January 9, 2020 here.

WILLIAM PRINCE SHARES OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR “THE SPARK” VIA AMERICAN SONGWRITER.

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“The Spark” reaches #1 on CBC Music’s Top 20.

“There are few singer-songwriters who can recognize both the heartbreak and healing found in regular, everyday moments the way that William Prince can.” – CBC Music

“A gently-rolling ballad that recalls David Gray and Kris Kristofferson.” – Rolling Stone

 

 

William Prince returned to Canada from a European tour with recent Grammy nominee Yola to find his new song “The Spark” atop CBC Music’s Top 20 and on Rolling Stone’s list of “10 Best Country and Americana Songs To Hear Now.” In “The Spark,” a song years in the making, Prince explores the lessons of fire as love, from its warmth and light to the dangers of an untended blaze. “There’s a delicate potency to the video and its connection to the song’s message of losing hope then finding that spark in someone,” writes American Songwriter, “all wrapped in Prince’s lush vocals.”

 

Directed by Christopher Smets and filmed north of Toronto, the official video for “The Spark” adds new dimensions to the song’s meaning, with two very different types of intimacy interwoven. The isolated setting, a lone cabin in a field, is a reminder that the creative process can be a solitary experience. Young lovers show that all-consuming blaze of attraction and intensity. A third type of intimacy reaches outward, from Prince to the public, as he shares his own journey from discomfort to acceptance in the experience of filming: “We can be so hard on our perceived imperfections,” Prince writes. “I can’t and won’t let my hang-ups stop me from shining.” Read the full post here.

 

“The Spark,” produced by Dave Cobb, is the first single from William Prince’s forthcoming album Reliever. Reliever will be available on February 7, 2020 via Six Shooter Records in Canada.

 

TOUR DATES:

OTTAWA, ON: NAC, Dec 20 w/ Matt Andersen
ROCHESTER, NY: Good Luck, Jan 13
NEW YORK, NY: Joe’s Pub, Jan 15
TAMWORTH, ON: Abbott Hall, Feb 8
WINNIPEG, MB: West End Cultural Centre, Feb 14 + 15

ADIEU TO INTERSTELLAR RODEO.

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Created by music fans and for music fans, Interstellar Rodeo was a one-of-a-kind festival built from scratch in Winnipeg and Edmonton. Festival founders, Six Shooter Records owners and artist managers Shauna de Cartier and Helen Britton, dreamed big and drilled down into the tiniest details to design an experience worthy of both artists and audiences. The mission: to offer a premium, relaxed, respectful and fun experience from start to finish. Also, the wine needed to be good.From 2012-2019, Interstellar Rodeo presented a dizzying range of sound and stories, all united under the sails by a common thread of artistic excellence. From Beck to Rhiannon Giddens, Wilco to Whitehorse, Tanya Tagaq to St. Vincent to Sharon Van Etten to Sheila E., Interstellar Rodeo’s commitment to showcasing musical greatness in all its many forms created an experience that immediately struck a chord with fans, particularly for the festival’s element of discovery. Interstellar Rodeo brought dozens of artists to both locales for the first time, a selling point for adventurous and appreciative music lovers. Interstellar was proud to present artists such as Alabama Shakes, St. Paul & the Broken Bones, Margo Price, Courtney Barnett, Father John Misty, Adia Victoria, and Perfume Genius for their Edmonton or Winnipeg debuts.

From 2012-2019, Interstellar Rodeo presented a dizzying range of sound and stories, all united under the sails by a common thread of artistic excellence. From Beck to Rhiannon Giddens, Wilco to Whitehorse, Tanya Tagaq to St. Vincent to Sharon Van Etten to Sheila E., Interstellar Rodeo’s commitment to showcasing musical greatness in all its many forms created an experience that immediately struck a chord with fans, particularly for the festival’s element of discovery. Interstellar Rodeo brought dozens of artists to both locales for the first time, a selling point for adventurous and appreciative music lovers. Interstellar was proud to present artists such as Alabama Shakes, St. Paul & the Broken Bones, Margo Price, Courtney Barnett, Father John Misty, Adia Victoria, and Perfume Genius for their Edmonton or Winnipeg debuts.

From the first edition in 2012, Interstellar Rodeo’s lineup was built on parity and representative of many voices and communities. Interstellar became a model of art-forward, inclusive programming. With the introduction of side stages to showcase community dance groups and spoken word artists to a strong contingent of artists from northern territories including Yukon and Nunavut, Interstellar Rodeo welcomed and celebrated artists from all over the country and all over the world. This approach to music curation in Interstellar Rodeo’s culture and mandate embodied the core values of Six Shooter’s spirit and ethos. An emphasis on quality of experience drove Interstellar’s philosophy from top to bottom. On the ground, Interstellar Rodeo’s Here To Help team and Code of Care put its mission to create a welcoming and positive environment into action. As its roots grew deeper, Interstellar Rodeo shone the spotlight on community creators and activists through programming and outreach.

Along the way, the festival team learned many lessons, made many friends, and ultimately created a community of people committed to building the festival together. Interstellar Rodeo proudly and fiercely embraced the challenges, roadblocks and surprises that came along the way, a reflection of the grit, determination and enthusiasm of its producers. From Corb Lund Day, by city decree, to opening Interstellar Rodeo 2019 with Jesse Jamz and the Flams, a hometown artist who was rained out the year before, Interstellar Rodeo did everything it could to make sure everyone – from headliners to brand new performers, from those who never missed a year to those who came to see just one artist – felt valued.

No Interstellar Rodeo was like the other, but all Interstellar Rodeos were these things.

Thank you to our volunteers, our sponsors, supporters and partners, our families, the artists, their agents and managers, and most of all, the fans in Edmonton and Winnipeg for making this a truly memorable experience each and every time.

WILLIAM PRINCE ANNOUNCES SOPHOMORE ALBUM, RELIEVER, WITH NEW SONG “THE SPARK.”

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LISTEN HERE.

RELIEVER, OUT 2/7/20, PRODUCED BY NASHVILLE’S DAVE COBB AND WINNIPEG’S SCOTT NOLAN.

PRINCE JOINS YOLA ON TOUR IN UK, IRELAND AND EUROPE IN NOVEMBER.

 

 

For his eagerly-awaited sophomore album, songwriter William Prince begins with a single word, Reliever, which informs a collection of exceptionally rendered explorations of what, who and how peace is found. Relievers come in all forms; for Prince, it is song. With its emphasis on words and confidently unfussed accompaniment, Reliever puts Prince’s gift for sparking powerful emotions of both personal and communal relevance at the fore. A masterclass in skillful simplicity, Reliever works a generous and profound kind of magic.

 

Prince’s influences and references, from the gospel of his childhood to the pantheon of classic outlaw country singers, baseball and the great beyond, shape Reliever into a collection that approaches the big questions with humility and curiosity. At the edge of the ocean, between father and son, from stranger to lover, the album flows through the places and moments where real connections and healing happen. With the transformational power of letting go in songs such as “Always Have What We Had” and “Leave It by the Sea” to the all-consuming blaze of love in “The Spark,” Reliever finds many paths to the heart.

 

The complicated emotions that charge idealisms and realities of fatherhood are a central theme throughout Reliever. “I want to live to the second last day that my children do, selfishly so I can see them through” Prince sings on “That’s All I’ll Ever Become,” a sentiment of seismic love and dedication. “Wasted,” another album standout, echoes this purest unconditional love inwardly, to the child who is told he is loved no matter which path he chooses, and outwardly, to the listener, who is gently – and directly – spurred not to take this shuffle for granted.

 

To make Reliever, Prince reconvened with producers Dave Cobb in Nashville and Scott Nolan in Winnipeg, the team behind his JUNO Award winning debut and subsequent Glassnote Records reissue, Earthly Days. With the song “Breathless,” which found audiences worldwide and reached the B List at BBC’s Radio 2, Earthly Days introduced Prince’s poignant philosophy and rich baritone to the world. Prince’s trajectory from Peguis First Nation in Manitoba, Canada, to opening for Neil Young, has seen the relative newcomer find esteem and career-changing opportunity wherever he performs.

 

Reliever will be released in Canada via Six Shooter Records on February 7, 2020.

 

RELIEVER TRACK LISTING:
The Spark
Wasted
Reliever
Always Have What We Had
Old Souls
That’s All I’ll Ever Become
Leave It by the Sea
Lighthouse
The Gun
Heaven and Hell
Great Wide Open

 

TOUR DATES:

CANMORE, AB: Communitea Café, Nov 8
HIGH RIVER, AB: High River Masonic Hall, Nov 9
LETHBRIDGE, AB: Geomatic Attic, Nov 10
BERLIN: Music & Peace, Nov 16*
HAMBURG: Hakken, Nov 17*
MILAN: Santeria Toscana 31, Nov 22*
PARIS: Cafe de la Danse, Nov 18*
GLASGOW: Oran Mor, Nov 30*
DUBLIN: Olympia Theatre, Dec 1*
MANCHESTER: Gorilla, Dec 3*
LONDON: Islington Assembly Hall, Dec 4*
*w/ Yola

Job Opportunity: Administrative Leader (Full-Time)

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Job Opportunity: Administrative Leader (Full-Time)

Established in 2000 in Toronto, Six Shooter Records is a full-service music company with a diverse roster that includes artists in the genres of Americana, country, rock, and avant-garde. In addition to being a label and a publisher, the company also provides artist management services. Since its inception, Six Shooter has released over 120 albums. Our artists have been consistently recognized in national award programs, including the JUNO Awards, Polaris Music Prize, SOCAN Awards, Canadian Folk Music Awards, and others.

Ours is a fast-paced, friendly environment with an enterprising culture. We seek an administrative superstar that loves to improve administrative systems, who will be key to connecting our entire team and improving company efficiency. This position will provide administrative support to both the record label, management company, and publishing division. Responsibilities will be as follows:

 

Administrative – Label & Management Company

  • For all releases, take charge of all label related royalty collection registrations. This includes SoundExchange, CONNECT/Re:Sound. Communicate with artists’ teams to make sure they are completing registrations on the artist side as well. Create a master reference document that shows when registrations are completed – report to VP Finance as registrations are completed.
  • Mechanicals – complete an internal audit of all current deals and history of mechanicals paid. Identify and correct any issues. Work with Director of Operations and VP Finance to develop, implement, and maintain a system to streamline the mechanical licensing and payment process going forward.
  • Diarize all album deal renewal dates, trigger reviews of these deals with label President in a timely manner to initiate renewal or termination processes. Communicate applicable information to VP Finance for album reporting, and VP International Business Development for business affairs purposes.
  • Acting as the main point of contact with our IT support company.
  • Acting as the main point of contact with our health benefits provider.
  • Assisting with accounts payable e.g. paying approved invoices, preparing cheques for approval, overseeing accounts with auto payment (downloading receipts etc).
  • Scanning receipts and related filing (physical and digital)
  • Completing all bank deposits for the company in a timely manner, including documenting/scanning all applicable related information
  • For select management clients, complete occasional bank deposits and communicating/documenting the related information to their bookkeeper.
  • Assisting with grant completions for both the label and our management clients as requested. Including but not limited to proofing material and organizing expense documentation.

 

Administrative – Publishing

  • Song catalogue updating and registrations (SOCAN, CMRRA, Sound Exchange)
  • Metadata spreadsheet management in collaboration with Director of Operations.
  • Updating song database with audio, artwork, lyrics, metadata & tagging (in Disco)
  • Retrieving instrumentals/stems, etc.
  • Retrieving/uploading videos of synchs into synch database
  • Tracking synch requests, synch licenses and invoices

 

Human Resources

  • Expand Employee Handbook to include general company resources – ex: how our internal Dropbox system works, workflow chain of command etc.
  • Work with Label Executives to develop new company policies as needed. This includes identifying areas where official policies may be lacking and proposing them.
  • Updating and circulating Employee Handbook as changes are made to legislation, or to internal company policies. Making sure changes are clearly communicated to staff and answering any related questions.
  • Work with our third-party human resources consultant as needed.
  • Coordinate all paperwork for new hires (send employment offers, confidentiality agreements etc), file signed copies. Communicate related financial information to VP Finance
  • Develop internal resource – Six Shooter Job Descriptions Handbook. This will involve working with all employees to create a resource for each position that outlines everything they do and the systems used to do it. Transfer individual knowledge into institutional knowledge available to entire company via this resource. Ensure it stays updated.
  • Track all employee vacation days and sick days. Be in communication with company President and VP about these as needed.

 

Requirements:

  • Experience contributing to and organizing administrative and/or HR related systems.
  • Experience with QuickBooks or similar accounting software.
  • Proficiency in MS Office (MS Excel in particular – experience managing and tracking data ideal), Google Drive, Dropbox, Slack.
  • Self-starter who brings a diverse perspective, with excellent time management skills and the ability to prioritize work.
  • Attention to detail and problem-solving skills.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  • Strong organizational skills with the ability to multi-task.

 

Nice to haves:

  • Education related to business management, the music business or other relevant field.
  • Experience in the Canadian music industry, specifically at a rights management organization, publishing company or PRO for 1-2 years
  • Experience as an executive assistant or in a film/TV production office

 

Job Specs:

Position: Administrative Leader

Reporting to: VP Finance as well as Director of Licensing

Hours: Monday-Friday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Salary: This is a mid-level position, salary to be determined commensurate with experience

Application deadline: Monday, November 11, 2019

Start date: Monday, November 25, 2019

 

Please send a cover letter describing your experience and your resume by email to info@sixshooterrecords.com with subject line “Administrative Leader job application”. No phone calls please.

 

We invite applications from all qualified candidates, especially from people who identify as racialized, Indigenous, differently abled, and persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity. Upon request, suitable accommodations are available under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act for applicants invited to an interview

OUT NOW: THE DEAD SOUTH’S SUGAR & JOY CHARGES (AND CHARTS) OUT OF THE GATE.

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#1 Billboard Bluegrass Albums
#4 Billboard Heatseekers Albums
#1 New Releases, Bluegrass, Amazon USA
#1 Best Seller, Bluegrass, Amazon UK
#3 Americana Albums Chart, UK
#2 iTunes Albums Chart, Canada

 

CANADA SERVED COLD TOUR ROLLING NOW.

“Blazin’ banjos and heated harmonies. ****” (MOJO)

“The Dead South’s musicianship shines on Sugar & Joy” – Billboard

“Bluegrass experimenters The Dead South have never been content to play roots music the traditional way.” – Paste

“Masterful overall use of cello, mandolin, guitar and banjo in conveying their unique bluegrass feel.” – Ultimate Guitar

“Filled with wonderfully weird, vivid songs that range from barn burners to one-foot-in-front-of-the-other work songs.” – CBC Music

The Dead South have made a statement with Sugar & Joy, their first Billboard Bluegrass #1, out now via Six Shooter Records. For their third full-length record, the four-piece string band from Saskatchewan, Canada, traveled out of their hometown and comfort zone to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where they convened with Grammy-winning producer Jimmy Nutt to make what has been lauded as their most compelling, complex and impressive work yet.

 

Sugar & Joy’s Billboard chart debuts include:

#1 on Bluegrass Albums
#1 on Heatseekers – Mountain
#4 on Heatseekers Albums
#7 on Americana/Folk Album Sales
#13 on Independent Albums
#15 on Emerging Artists
#35 on Top Current Albums
#40 on Top Album Sales

 

With strong iTunes chart showings in Canada, USA to UK to Sweden, Denmark, Australia and beyond, Sugar & Joy’s impressive success out of the gate – for a band that has flown relatively under the radar of bluegrass and Americana worlds on both sides of the Atlantic – attests to the robust and enthusiastic fanbase The Dead South have cultivated over a decade of dogged touring. Along the way, The Dead South have grappled with the physical and mental fallout of road life, addressed with love and care on the emotional “Crawdaddy Served Cold,” the only song on Sugar & Joy without Colton ‘Crawdaddy’ Crawford’s skillful banjo playing. In this way, Sugar & Joy shows a band hitting new creative heights while also processing their own journey.

On the new single “Black Lung,” built around a sturdy cello line and a stark stomp, the band approaches the theme of destructive labour from another angle, with a JC Ortiz-penned coal mining story that “echoes the long, sad grind of working in a job that’s slowly killing you and barely allowing you to eke out a living in return” (PopMatters).

The Dead South are currently on the road for the Canadian leg of their SERVED COLD tour, which lands in the USA in November. The Served Cold tour, which winds its way through Ireland, UK and Europe in 2020, will see more than 150,000 tickets sold worldwide.

CANADA SERVED COLD TOUR
EDMONTON, AB: Winspear Centre, Oct 23+ (SOLD OUT)
CALGARY, AB: MacEwan Hall, Oct 24+
SASKATOON, SK: TCU Place, Oct 25+ (SOLD OUT)
WINNIPEG, MB: Burton Cummings Theatre, Oct 26+
OTTAWA, ON: TD Place Arena, Oct 29~
TORONTO, ON: The Phoenix, Oct 31~
MONTREAL, QC: MTelus, Nov 1^
QUEBEC CITY, QC: Imperial, Nov 2^ (SOLD OUT)
FREDERICTION, NB: Fredericton Boyce Farmers Market, Nov 4^
HALIFAX, NS: The Marquee, Nov 4^ (SOLD OUT)
*w/ Andino Suns
+ w/ Legendary Shack Shakers
~ w/ Elliott BROOD
^ w/ Devarrow

 

USA SERVED COLD TOUR Presented by LiveNation Ones To Watch and SiriusXM Bluegrass Junction.
TEMPE, AZ: Marquee Theatre, Nov 24*
LAS VEGAS, NV: House of Blues, Nov 25*
SAN DIEGO, CA: House of Blues, Nov 26*
LOS ANGELES, CA: The Belasco Theatre, Nov 27*
SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA: The Fremont Theatre, Nov 29*
RENO, NV: Virginia Street Brewhouse, Nov 30*
SAN FRANCISCO, CA: The Fillmore, Dec 1*
SACRAMENTO, CA: Ace of Spaces, Dec 2*
PORTLAND, OR: Roseland Theatre, Dec 4+
SEATTLE, WA: Showbox SoDo, Dec 5+
SPOKANE, WA: Knitting Factory, Dec 6+
GARDEN CITY, ID: Revolution Concert House, Dec 7+
SALT LAKE CITY, UT: The Depot, Dec 9#
GRAND JUNCTION, CO: The Mesa Theatre & Club, Dec 10#
DENVER, CO: Mission Ballroom, Dec 12#
LINCOLN, NE: The Royal Grove, Dec 13#
KANSAS CITY, MO: The Truman, Dec 14#
CLEVELAND, OH: House of Blues, Jan 5#
BUFFALO, NY: Asbury Hall at Babeville, Jan 6#
BOSTON, MA: House of Blues, Jan 7#
BROOKLYN, NY: Warsaw, Jan 9#
PHILADELPHIA, PA: Theatre Of The Living Arts, Jan 10#
SILVER SPRING, MD: The Fillmore Silver Spring, Jan 11#
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA: Elevation 27, Jan 12#
CINCINNATI, OH: Bogarts, Jan 14#
LOUISVILLE, KY: Mercury Ballroom, Jan 15#
ASHEVILLE, NC: Orange Peel, Jan 16~
RALEIGH, NC: The Ritz, Jan 17~
CHARLOTTE, NC: The Underground, Fillmore Charlotte, Jan 18~
CHARLESTON, SC: Music Farm, Jan 20~
ORLANDO, FL: House of Blues, Jan 21~
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL: Revolution Live, Jan 23~
TAMPA, FL: The Orpheum, Jan 24~
ATLANTA, GA: Buckhead Theatre, Jan 25~
w/ Scott H. Biram*
w/ Elliott BROOD+
w/ The Hooten Hollers~
w/ Legendary Shack Shakers#

 

IRELAND AND UK SERVED COLD TOUR
DUBLIN, IE: Vicar Street, Feb 18
BELFAST, UK: Ulster Hall, Feb 19
GLASGOW, UK: O2 Academy, Feb 21
NEWCASTLE, UK: O2 Academy, Feb 22
MANCHESTER, UK: Academy, Feb 23
BIRMINGHAM, UK: O2 Academy, Feb 25
PORTSMOUTH, UK: Guildhall, Feb 26
LONDON, UK: Brixton Academy, Feb 27
NOTTINGHAM, UK: Rock City, Feb 28
EXETER, UK: Great Hall, Feb 29

 

EUROPE SERVED COLD TOUR
ANTWERP, BE: De Roma, Mar 24
UTRECHT, NL: TivoliVredenburg, Mar 25
HAMBURG, DE: Docks, Mar 27
COPENHAGEN, DK: Amager Bio, Mar 28
OSLO, NO: John Dee, Mar 29
STOCKHOLM, SE: Debaser Strand, Mar 30
BERLIN, DE: Columbiahalle, Apr 1
HANNOVER, DE: Capitol, Apr 2
LEIPZIG, DE: Werk 2, Apr 3
PRAGUE, CZ: Palac Akropolis, Apr 4 (SOLD OUT)
VIENNA, AU: Gasometer, Apr 5
ZURICH, CH: Volkshaus, Apr 7
MUNICH, DE: Tonhalle, Apr 8
FRANKFURT, DE: Batschkapp, Apr 9
COLOGNE, DE: E Werk, Apr 11
PARIS, FR: La Cigale, May 12
LAUSANNE, CH: Les Docks, May 14
MILAN, IT: Serraglio, May 16
MADRID, ES: Moby Dick Club, May 21
VALENCIA, ES: Sala El Loco, May 22
BARCELONA, ES: La Nau, May 23

THE DEAD SOUTH UNLEASH “SUGAR & JOY” TODAY!

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The Dead South release their third full length album, Sugar & Joy, today. The album is available on all streaming platforms, on CD, and on a half black & half white 180 gram vinyl. Head over to The Dead South’s official store to order yours.

The Dead South’s Served Cold Tour kicks off tomorrow (Oct 12) at the Conexus Arts Centre in their hometown of Regina, SK. Follow the link for the full list of tour dates and VIP upgrades.

 

 

WHITEHORSE ON WAX: The Northern South Vols. 1 + 2 and A Whitehorse Winter Classic arrive on vinyl 10/25/19.

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Watch a new video from The Northern South Vol. 2 here.

FALL TOUR DATES INCLUDE SECRET PATH LIVE, IQALUIT SHOW AND ONTARIO DATES.

Melissa McClelland joins Women’s Blues Revue in Toronto. Roy Thomson Hall, Nov 29.

Whitehorse presses on with new vinyl editions of the duo’s most recent releases, which include the JUNO Award nominated holiday album, A Whitehorse Winter Classic (only the fourth holiday album to receive a nomination, alongside Sarah McLachlan, Michael Bublé, and Jess Moskaluke). The album, reviewed by Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times, PopMatters and more, took the road less traveled in holiday music with 10 original songs that celebrated family and togetherness while taking stock of the ups and downs that come with the season.

 

The band’s second instalment of The Northern South project, released in full in January 2019, dealt a hand of blues bops, sexed up cuts and hellfire gospels rewritten for our modern apocalypse. With an eye on the end-of-days and Whitehorse’s ear for blues grooves, The Northern South Vol. 2 expanded the universe of the Northern South to with foreplay, foreboding, fever and Fenders — plenty of them — on cuts from Howlin’ Wolf, Willie Dixon, Jimmy Reed, Slim Harpo and more. The vinyl edition features both volumes 1 and 2 for a complete (thus far) collection.

 

This fall, Whitehorse’s will be on the road in Ontario, with additional appearances at Gord Downie’s Secret Path Live in Toronto, the Women’s Blues Revue (Melissa McClelland only) and at Inuksuk High School in Iqaluit.

 

TOUR DATES:

TORONTO, ON: Gord Downie’s Secret Path Live, Roy Thomson Hall, Oct 19 w/ Buffy Sainte-Marie, July Talk, William Prince and more.
ELLIOT LAKE, ON: Lester B. Pearson Civic Centre, Nov 2
NORTH BAY, ON: The Capitol Centre, Nov 5
ST. CATHARINES, ON: FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, Nov 7
PICTON, ON: Regent Theatre, Nov 8
MEAFORD, ON: Meaford Hall, Nov 9
LONDON, ON: Wolf Performance Hall, Nov 12
IQALUIT, NU: Inuksuk High School, Nov 16
TORONTO, ON: Women’s Blues Revue, Roy Thomson Hall, Nov 29

THE DEAD SOUTH SHARE NEW SONG “BLUE TRASH,” A FRIENDLY WINK AT BLUEGRASS TRADITIONALISM.

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September schedule includes World of Bluegrass showcases, in-stores at Rough Trade (Brooklyn) and Grimey’s (Nashville).

USA SERVED COLD TOUR presented by Live Nation Ones To Watch and SiriusXM Bluegrass Junction rolls in November.

Tangy banjo and back chop beats drive “Blue Trash,” the third song from The Dead South’s forthcoming Sugar & Joy. Out today, “Blue Trash” is a playful acknowledgement that along their road from unsigned Canadian string set to Gold Certified, JUNO Award winning, Billboard charting band, some have taken issue with the prairie pickers’ progressive style. “Blue Trash,” built on a perfectly bluegrassy banjo lick, is about the importance of expressing their own musical hearts, on their own terms.

For more from Sugar & Joy, you can get weird and get friendly with “Alabama People,” a headbanging bluegrass tune released last month. Written and recorded on the spot, the song’s spontaneous origin shows a band fully in the moment, inspired by the experience and channeling the energy of place (The Nutthouse) and people (producer Jimmy Nutt, assistant engineer Cody Simmons, visits from members of The Swampers, late nights with the locals at Champy’s Shoals). Beyond its two minutes of stomping swagger, “Alabama People” also feels like a snapshot, Eggleston-style, a vivid, unsettling, evocative vignette.

As the release date for Sugar & Joy nears (October 11, 2019), The Dead South’s fall schedule includes stops in NYC, Raleigh and Nashville in September for an in-store at Rough Trade (9/24), multiple showcases at this year’s World of Bluegrass, and a stop at Grimey’s in Nashville (9/28). The band’s USA SERVED COLD tour, presented by Live Nation Ones To Watch and SiriusXM Bluegrass Junction, has also expanded to include new west coast dates.

The Dead South, a gold rush vibing four-piece acoustic bluegrass set from Saskatchewan, infuse the genre’s traditional trappings with an air of frontier recklessness, whiskey breakfasts and grizzled tin-pan showmanship. The sound, built on a taut configuration of cello, mandolin, banjo and guitar, speeds like a train past polite definitions of bluegrass into the grittier, rowdier spaces of the traditional world. The gold-certified, JUNO Award winning band’s original and current lineup includes the gnarled baritone of Nate Hilts, Scott Pringle on mandolin, whistling cellist Danny Kenyon and virtuosic banjo player Colton Crawford. The four-piece, string-driven approach puts the interplay of unique and versatile voices front and centre, with Hilts, Pringle and Kenyon all sharing lead vocal duties.

Sugar & Joy will be released on October 11, 2019 via Six Shooter Records.

RHEOSTATICS’ HERE COME THE WOLVES ARRIVES.

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STREET LEVEL VIDEO PREMIERE: BRAND NEW CLIP FOR ALBUM’S TITLE TRACK, DIRECTED BY JENNIFER BAICHWAL AND NICK DE PENCIER (ANTHROPOCENE, LONG TIME RUNNING), NOW PLAYING IN SOUNDSCAPES’ WINDOW.

WATCH IT HERE.

“This resolutely unconventional Canadian sextet resumes production of intoxicatingly crafted sonic spaces and vivid imagery on its first album since 2004.” – Big Takeover Magazine

Bash through the trees at canis lupus level with “Here Come The Wolves,” a new video for the title track to Rheostatics’ album, out today.

Directed by Jennifer Baichwal and Nick de Pencier, the team behind Anthropocene (TIFF’s Best Canadian film this time last year) and Long Time Running, the video for “Here Come The Wolves” captures the song’s multitudes. With a grindstone-hewn art rock brutalism, the team uses the forge as metaphor for lyrical themes, which speak to the grinding crush of authoritarian power, and analog for the band itself, the industrial moil of being a band for nearly four decades.

Then, the video melts into abstraction as Tielli takes over and the song dissolves into moonlight ripples. Acoustic guitar, shivery strings and poetic misanthropy. In other words, signature Tielli.

To wrap it up, Rheostatics swing back around into shiny 70s pop rock. At last night’s in-store album release, Q&A host Laurie Brown asked each band member to describe their favourite moments on the album by others; Bidini zeroed in on Tim Vesely’s harmonies at the song’s conclusion.

Stay tuned to hear the complete conversation on a future episode of Laurie Brown’s Pondercast.

ABOUT MERCURY FILMS

Jennifer Baichwal and Nick de Pencier, the founders of Mercury Films Inc., have been making award winning, critically acclaimed documentaries and films for two decades. Their subjects are eclectic, skewed to art and philosophy, and try to extend formal boundaries without being inaccessible.

TOUR DATES

OMEMEE, ON: Coronation Hall, Nov 15
CREEMORE, ON: Avening Hall, Nov 16
OTTAWA, ON: NAC Theatre, Nov 22
ST. CATHARINES, ON: First Ontario, Nov 27
LONDON, ON: London Music Hall, Dec 3
BAYFIELD, ON: Old Town Hall, Dec 5
TORONTO, ON: Danforth Music Hall, Dec 6

RIIT DETAILS DEBUT LP, ATAATAGA, COMING OCTOBER 25, 2019.

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INUKTITUT ELECTRO POP COLLECTION, PRODUCED BY GRAHAM WALSH, FEATURES GUEST VOCALISTS ELISAPIE, JOSH Q AND ZAKI IBRAHIM.

“#UVANGATTAU” FT. ZAKI IBRAHIM OUT FRIDAY. PREVIEW HERE.

“Shifts seamlessly from heavy verses and eerie synthesizers into a decidedly sunshine-y chorus, as Riit switches between graceful, airy vocals and intense throat-singing while communicating the strangeness and elation of exploration.” – FADER

“A uniqely Arctic take on electropop.” – Line of Best Fit

“A sound that builds like a zipper being pulled upward into the sky.” – FASHION

Photo by Bettina Bogar

Riit, from majestic Panniqtuq, Nunavut, is a new artist making space for herself in the synth pop world with Inuktitut lyrics and deep rhythmic vocals layered over sticky, staticky electronic textures. Riit’s music emerges from very distinct circumstances of place, language and experience. Throughout ataataga, her debut full-length album, Riit sings about the clarity of forgiveness, the imprint of the past on the present, and personal disconnection. In Inuktitut, Riit’s songs explore family, life and love.

On “#uvangattau,” out Friday, August 30, Riit collaborates with astral soul/R&B artist Zaki Ibrahim. Blood boils, eyes blaze. With an opening knife slash and two captivating voices interwoven in English and Inuktitut, #uvangattau is both fight and flight, a reckoning with fear and violence. Throughout ataataga, from the gentle droning quiver and build of “uqausissaka” with Elisapie, to the heart quickening strobe light flashes of “ullagit,” Riit explores ways of expressing resilience and moving through pain and heartbreak.

Riit also nods to Nunavut’s rich yet under-appreciated legacy of songwriters, with covers of Inuktitut classics included on the record. “Inuusivut,” is a song by Igloolik, Nunavut metal legends Northern Haze. The song, which appears in two versions on the band’s 1985 and 2018 albums (the newest written by Derek Aqqiaruq), is about living one’s life. Riit trades the Hazers rock riffs for glinting synths, expanding the searching, self-reflective original into a duet with Aakuluk Music’s Josh Q. “Qujana,” a break-up song, was written by Susa Aningmiuq, one of Panniqtuq’s most beloved songwriters.

The album opens and closes with very different versions of the title track ataataga, which means father, from pulsating and vaporous to an unadorned piano ballad.

ataataga will be released on October 25, 2019 via Six Shooter Records.

RHEOSTATICS SHARE “VANCOUVER,” OPENING TRACK ON HERE COME THE WOLVES.

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LISTEN HERE

FREE PERFORMANCE AT SONIC BOOM ON SEPTEMBER 5, 7-9pm. Q&A HOSTED BY LAURIE BROWN OF PONDERCAST.

New video from team behind “Anthropocene” documentary coming in September.

City of Glass, hall of mirrors: “Vancouver,” a swooping birds-eye view of a city constructed in memory and imagination, is the third cut from Rheostatics’ Here Come The Wolves out in advance of the album’s September 6 release date. The dizzying pacific cynic travelogue builds and flutters around Martin Tielli’s vocals, a hypnotic and delicately jittery opener to the band’s first new record in over a decade.

To mark the album release, Rheostatics announce a free in-store performance and interview with broadcaster Laurie Brown of Pondercast podcast at Toronto’s Sonic Boom. The public event will take place Thursday, September 5, 7-9pm. Capacity is limited, first come, first served.

Look for a new video for the title track, directed by the team behind the Anthropocene project feature documentary, in early September.

HERE COME THE WOLVES TRACK LISTING:
Vancouver
AC/DC on the Stereo
Rearview
Here Come the Wolves
It’s the Super Controller!
Music is the Message
Diamonds on Our Toes
I Wanna Be Your Robot
The Beautiful Night
Goodbye Sister Butterfly
Albatross
Mountains and the Sea

TOUR DATES

TORONTO, ON: Sonic Boom, September 5, 7-9pm. FREE.
OMEMEE, ON: Coronation Hall, Nov 15
CREEMORE, ON: Avening Hall, Nov 16
OTTAWA, ON: NAC Theatre, Nov 22
ST. CATHARINES, ON: First Ontario, Nov 27
LONDON, ON: London Music Hall, Dec 3
BAYFIELD, ON: Old Town Hall, Dec 5
TORONTO, ON: Danforth Music Hall, Dec 6